363 lines
8.0 KiB
Markdown
363 lines
8.0 KiB
Markdown
# DIALOGUE-PROLOGUE-0013
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## The Shipwreck Survivor — Canonical Draft
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### Status: Canonical Dialogue Draft
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### Layer: OTIVM (Roman Merchant)
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### Purpose: Prologue scenario teaching marine risk, salvage claims, fraud suspicion, distress pricing, witness value, and how disaster stories become markets.
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### Repository Path: docs/scenarios/DIALOGUE-PROLOGUE-0013.md
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---
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## 0. Design Intent
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A battered sailor reaches Ostia claiming his vessel was wrecked offshore.
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No cargo has arrived. No body has been confirmed. No magistrate yet rules.
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Yet creditors awaken, insurers panic, relatives hope, rivals smile politely, and traders begin pricing goods that may have sunk—or may be waiting elsewhere under another name.
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Known facts are uncertain:
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- genuine wreck or staged loss
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- full sinking or partial salvage
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- piracy, storm, grounding, or fraud
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- cargo destroyed or hidden
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- captain dead or absconded
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- survivor truthful, confused, or purchased
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The participant must learn that uncertain disaster can move markets before facts land.
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---
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## 1. Scene Constraints
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Location: harbor steps near pilot office, shrine, and marine tavern in Ostia, late morning.
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Primary signals:
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- injured survivor telling changing story
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- crowd gathering rapidly
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- lenders seeking manifests
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- relatives asking names
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- salvage crews being discussed
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- prices changing on goods believed lost
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Selection method: participant chooses whose interpretation to follow.
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---
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## 2. Opening Scene Draft
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The man smelled of salt, pitch, blood, and invention.
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Wrapped in borrowed blankets, one sandal missing, hair crusted white with dried spray, he sat on the harbor steps drinking watered wine as if it were medicine or strategy.
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Around him stood half the waterfront and the worst half of certainty.
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Marcus Atilius Varro stood where he could see the survivor, the pilot office door, and the road from the quays.
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Lucius Fabius Felix arrived smiling like a man hearing tragedy in small denominations.
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“No smoke, no riot, no edict,” Felix said. “Yet everyone running. Fine work.”
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Varro kept his eyes on the sailor.
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“He says a coastal freighter struck rocks south of the mouth.”
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“He says now.”
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Gaius Licinius Crispus approached carrying the expression of procedural hunger.
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“Name of vessel?”
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Felix answered first.
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“Depends who asks.”
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Crispus ignored him.
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Varro said, “He gave two names. One owner. Then another owner.”
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“Then concussion or fraud.”
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“Possibly both.”
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Quintus Cornelius Lentulus Minor arrived beneath a clean cloak that resented the harbor air.
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“I heard a grain ship was lost.”
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Felix laughed.
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“You heard because grain rises when spoken wet.”
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“It was said at breakfast.”
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“Then it is already overpriced.”
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Titus Varenus Secundus came from the pilot sheds carrying a broken oar peg.
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“Small freighter likely,” he said. “Not grain hull. Peg from river tender.”
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Varro nodded.
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“Useful.”
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Felix pointed.
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“There. Men bring evidence to gossip now.”
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A quiet voice came from behind the crowd.
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“Gossip pays transport.”
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Publius Terentius Chresimus stepped forward with two tablets and no sympathy wasted outwardly.
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“The survivor named cargo?”
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“Oil. Then wool. Then mixed amphorae,” Varro said.
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Chresimus nodded once.
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“Debt cargo.”
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Crispus turned.
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“Explain.”
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“Men who know their cargo speak first of cargo. Men who owe on cargo speak first of owners.”
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The sailor suddenly shouted that the captain had drowned heroically.
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Half the crowd crossed themselves in local fashion. The other half asked for the captain’s name.
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He gave none.
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Felix smiled.
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“Heroism without spelling. Efficient.”
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Lentulus frowned.
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“If men died, show respect.”
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“I am showing caution.”
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A fish seller nearby raised prices on imported garum immediately.
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Secundus noticed first.
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“There.”
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“What?” Crispus asked.
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“The first salvage.”
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Felix laughed.
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“No. The first prayer answered.”
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Varro watched the pilot office.
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“No harbor pilots moving.”
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“Because they are listening,” Secundus said.
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“Because they are bidding,” Chresimus corrected.
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A stout lender pushed through the crowd waving a wax tablet.
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“Was there blue cloth aboard? Answer carefully!”
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The sailor stared blankly.
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Felix admired him.
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“Either innocent or gifted.”
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Crispus said, “Witnesses must be separated.”
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Felix said, “There is only one witness.”
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“There are always more,” Chresimus said. “They simply arrive expensive.”
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Lentulus looked toward the sea road.
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“If a senator’s cargo were aboard, this would already be guarded.”
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Felix nodded.
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“So perhaps no senator lost anything. Comforting.”
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The sailor changed his story again.
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Now the wreck had burned.
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Varro spoke first.
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“Sea soaked. Then burned?”
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The sailor blinked.
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“Lightning.”
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Felix applauded softly.
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“The gods now testify.”
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Crispus stepped closer.
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“You will speak before an official.”
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The sailor looked alarmed.
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“Must I?”
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“Yes.”
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Felix leaned to Varro.
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“Fraud gains posture whenever clerks are mentioned.”
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Secundus pointed toward two tug crews arguing.
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“Salvage boats readying.”
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Varro said, “Before location known?”
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“Especially before location known.”
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Chresimus added:
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“First claim often belongs to first rope.”
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A woman arrived crying that her brother sailed that route.
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The crowd shifted again.
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Lentulus lowered his voice.
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“Now sympathy enters.”
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Felix replied quietly.
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“And accuracy leaves.”
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A spice merchant shuttered his stall and sent a runner inland.
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Crispus noticed.
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“Why?”
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Chresimus answered first.
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“If the lost vessel carried pepper, buy inland stock now.”
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“If it did not?”
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“Sell later anyway.”
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Varro asked, “What matters most?”
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Secundus answered:
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“Exact rocks. Tide state. Hull size. Available tow crews.”
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Lentulus said, “Owner name.”
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Crispus said, “Sworn statement.”
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Felix said, “Believability.”
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Chresimus said, “Who benefits if found late.”
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They all looked at him.
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“If cargo truly exists, delay favors buyers of claims.”
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The pilot office door opened.
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An official emerged with two scribes and immediate annoyance.
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Crispus straightened at once.
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“At last.”
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Felix sighed.
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“The funeral of spontaneity.”
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The official demanded silence.
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No one obeyed.
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Varro stepped toward the steps.
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“I’ll get the route, rocks, and tide.”
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Secundus moved with him.
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“I’ll secure a boat before rates triple.”
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Lentulus adjusted his cloak.
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“I will learn the owner and any family standing.”
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Crispus drew himself up.
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“I will formalize testimony.”
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Felix turned toward the market lane.
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“I will buy every good now rumored drowned.”
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Chresimus tied his tablets.
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“I will learn who insured cargo no one has yet seen.”
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Felix looked back once.
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“Six men. One survivor. None of us discussing mercy.”
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Varro answered without turning.
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“We are discussing what his story moves.”
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---
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## 3. Choice Presentation
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> The sea has delivered one man and many rumors. Whose reading of the steps do you trust?
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| Choice | Background |
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| Follow Varro to verify route, tide, and practical facts. | Former Legionary |
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| Follow Felix to trade on fear and false scarcity. | Freedman Trader |
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| Follow Lentulus to identify owners, names, and status exposure. | Noble Younger Son |
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| Follow Crispus to seize testimony, claims, and legal leverage. | Failed Magistrate |
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| Follow Secundus to organize salvage, boats, and recovery crews. | Camp Logistician |
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| Follow Chresimus to trace insurance, debt, and who profits from uncertainty. | Guild Scribe |
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---
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## 4. What This Scene Teaches
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- Disaster rumors can move prices immediately.
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- Witness testimony has economic value.
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- Salvage rights may matter before truth is known.
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- Creditors and insurers react faster than mourners.
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- False loss claims can be profitable.
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- Physical verification often lags market reaction.
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---
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## 5. Canonical Success Condition
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If the participant stops asking:
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“Did the ship sink?”
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and starts asking:
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“Who gains while no one knows?”
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then this dialogue is functioning correctly.
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